In an effort to promote high productivity of various types of machine tools, a number of differing types of quick release machine tool posts have been developed to minimize the machine down time that is required for installation, machine set up, tool changing and repositioning, etc. Examples of such quick change tool posts are evident from the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,106,745 of Stevens, 1,265,815 of Price, 2,862,408 of Stirrett, 2,972,272 of Sirola and 4,286,485 of Bezvane, et al. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,067 of Giannetti, of common inventorship herewith, also evidences the progressive development of quick release machine tool posts.
In the case of more developed quick release or quick change tool posts, the object has been the adjustable positioning of wedges that are typically slidable within grooves, which wedges are driven by threads or thread actuated cams. Although these devices function quite satisfactorily for the purposes intended, because of the abrasive environment of use and frequency of operation they tend to become worn quite quickly and become sufficiently unserviceable that the stability of the tool posts and the accuracy of the machine tool can be impaired. In such cases it becomes necessary to change out worn parts at significant expense and in some cases it becomes necessary to replace the entire machine tool post at even greater expense. Those dove tail mount locking and unlocking elements, typically referred to as "wedges" which are driven by the interaction of threads, are especially susceptible to wear. Moreover, dove tail wedges of this nature are very expensive so that the overall cost of machine tool operation is quite significant. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a quick change or quick release tool post mechanism that is designed to minimize wear so that it remains serviceable for extremely long periods of time even under circumstances of heavy use in high production activities. It is also desirable to provide a dove tail locking and unlocking mechanism that is simple in nature as well as being of minimal cost so that maintenance expense is minimized.